Thursday, August 18, 2011

Baden-Baden, Baby

The flight from London Stansted to Baden-Baden only takes an hour. We grabbed the first flight on Saturday morning and were in Germany by 10am. The bus from Baden Airpark into town picked us up 40 minutes later (€3.80) and 20 minutes after that we were on the outskirts of town. After a lovely hour's walk along a wooded path and babbling brook, plus a quick stop at the visitor's centre for a map, we were scoping out the lovely city centre by noon.

Baden-Baden is in Germany's Black Forest, as in the ham, and is well-known for its casino and healing thermal pools. Although we did enter the casino's foyer, we were neither dressed well enough nor willing to pay the €5 admission fee to enter into the gaming area, so we turned right back around without further investigation. We did, however, enjoy four glorious hours at the Caracalla Therme Baths.

Our first day was spent luxuriating in the pools and saunas of Caracalla, exploring the town, and eating and drinking as much local culinary delights as possible (a brat never tasted so good). Our second day was spent in the hills.

I am absolutely sold on this charming mountain village. To be able to stumble out your front door and, within just a few feet, find yourself up in the hills, at castle ruins, drinking a Hefe and eating a brat? Heaven.

The weather turned angry whilst we were exploring the castle ruins and we were forced to seek shelter in the Irish coffee serving on-site cafe (where we probably would've wound up anyway). After the sudden monsoon (seriously, the storm came out of nowhere and was crazy pouring) we headed back downhill.

We didn't want to miss the last bus back to the airport so we grabbed the next to last one, getting us to the airport approximately four hours earlier than necessary. We left Germany around 10pm and were in our flat back in London by 1am.

What an amazing trip and what a fantastic introduction to Germany. The Germans are friendly and kind, make amazing beer, and cook a mean brat. We can't wait to explore their lovely country further.